Archive for the ‘crafts’ Category

I didn’t have a chance to take photos of a gift I made for a friend recently, but she was kind enough to take a picture herself (and also include the little recipient enjoying it!). For this one I went with a slightly more neutral color palette, and used the same color yarn for the fur and his sweater stripe, then used gray and blue for the pants and other sweater stripe. I also wanted to dress him up a bit, so added some little suspenders, which turned out super cute! I thought about adding a bow-tie but never got around to it – I think I’ll have to try that for the next one 🙂 I also made a little rattle and felted on a little moon for fun – it was my first time felting and I really like the different texture it gives to the toys. How cute is his little face looking at the kitty?? Adorable.

Another kitty friend to add to the album 🙂 This one has been given a home by my daughter’s Kindergarten teacher, who is due with a boy this month. This was the fist time I used a “non-traditional” fur color and I really like the element of whimsy it adds.

Lucy is the latest crochet kitty I’ve made – I chose to do a gray and yellow kitty, adding the white on the face, paws and ears for a little more interest since her dress was just one color. I also added the buttons since I felt it needed a little something 🙂 She is now with her new adopted mother, the almost-2-year-old daughter of a friend of mine, who has since named her “James”, hahaha.

Every time we use the last egg, I can’t bring myself to throw away the carton – they are just so useful! There are about a gazillion things you can do/make with them, so I always chuck them into my bin of “random packaging I might use for a craft”, which is embarrassingly large (old tuna can, anyone?). This past Sunday, though, I’d seen something on Pinterest (of course) that had given me an idea and I just happened to use the last egg that morning, so egg-crate-monsters it was!

Just cut them out in pairs, and decorate however you want to look like eyes – we did ours quickly with just marker, but you could totally glue googly eyes on these. Then we stuck in pipe cleaners to add crazy “lashes” and attached them to our fingers. Quick and oh-so-easy crafty fun.

Something I’ve discovered with some surprise is that, for a younger child, the appeal of putting beads onto a pipe cleaner Never. Gets. Old. Whenever I am at my whits end and can’t think of anything for them to do to save my life, I break out the pipe cleaners and beads. You can bend them into shapes (like the hearts below), use them to form letters and numbers, make bracelets, crowns… you name it, we’ve made it.

The beauty is that you can re-use all the supplies with a few un-twists of the pipe cleaners a few days later (they won’t miss them what with the HUNDREDS of pipe-cleaner bead thingies they’ve made) – it’s a self-replenishing craft!! For valentine’s we got a little more crafty than usual and attached them to some leftover lollipop sticks I had from a party and voila! Heart wands.

My 2 year old and 5 year old both enjoy doing this for what seems like hours, and the bonus is that it’s good for their little fine motor skills to put them on. I get to cook dinner AND feel good about their little brain development – win, win!

Here’s another of my recent crochet dolls I got around to photographing – this one I made for my younger daughter, so she’s a keeper too. I tested out attaching a flower headband with this one and I think she turned out pretty cute – I’ll need to work on the technique a bit though before using it on one I give away. Anyway, hope you like her!

What is amigurumi you ask? It’s basically japanese crochet doll making – usually little dolls, using a little crochet hook. For some unexplainable reason I decided about 6 months ago that I MUST learn to do this, and so here we are… meet, June:

I’ve really loved learning to make these – it took some trial and error using patterns I found around the web and mixing and matching and adjusting to get to the specific look I was going for with these dolls, but once I perfected it, I’ve been making them as much as I can (which really is only about one per month).

I’ve only photographed this one, but more will be coming! I decided I should start taking their pictures since I really do love them all, but, let’s be honest, what do I need these for? They make great gifts, so off they go, with just their photos to remember them by. This one I made for one of my daughter’s, though, so she’s a keeper. I’ve given a few away and have about three in progress for friends having babies this year, so I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.

I love trying new colors and styles for the clothes – it really is a great creative outlet and I love making something with my hands. Graphic design is fun, but it’s different than REALLY making something, ya know? Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics and if you’d like any tips or technique info, give me a shout!